NBA Rumors: Roger Mason Jr. to Bulls?

You can never have too many backups, right? Especially when your star player's returning-to-the-court status is up in the air and unknown.

The Bulls have begun filling out the roster with guards such as Marco Belinelli, Kirk Hinrich and Marquis Teague. After consequently whiffing on other -- much better players in Courtney Lee and O.J. Mayo -- the Bulls seem to have turn their attention to another veteran guard. According to Michael Lee of The Washington Post, former (mainly) Wizard and Spur, Roger Mason Jr., has gauged interest from Bulls' GM, Gar Forman.

Lee writes, "Bringing back Roger Mason Jr., Maurice Evans or James Singleton also remains high on the Wizards' priority list, but the team already has depth at nearly every position. Mason is also not interested in signing another one-year deal at the league minimum, as he has the past two seasons, according to a source close to Mason. Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Chicago and the Los Angeles Lakers have also expressed interest in Mason."

This would abundantly batten down the hatches at the two-guard position for next season as Rip Hamilton, Marco Belinelli, (sometimes) Kirk Hinrich and maybe Jimmy Butler -- if he's not a three -- seem like a pretty formidable bunch. Now Roger Mason Jr.? Eh, I don't quite know how he fits. He's a little too skilled to be the eleventh or twelfth man on a non-championship caliber roster for now. The guys isn't beating out Rip or Marco, and Captain Kirk is actually better at the two at this stage of his career ... sooooo? Seems like a foolish move that practically pushes the team out of contention to nab F Malcolm Thomas. Thomas played for the Bulls' Summer League team and played well, very well in-fact.

Mason Jr. is a good player, a nice, solid, veteran wing that can shoot, score and facilitate a little. But like I said, not sure where he fits on the roster as is. You could make a case that he's the fifth guard in the rotation, but still, how much time does the fifth guard play? My gut tells me the Bulls are better off signing a big-man to clean up the minutes there.